230 JIN ABU FINDS 



not to say fearfully, awaiting developments, given 

 now and then an extra start by shrill trumpeting 

 of the elephants, which, shortly before daybreak, 

 suddenly moved away— to leave all quiet once 

 again. If anything is more disconcerting than the 

 bugling of elephants in the still of the jungle night, 

 as they inclose you in a crashing circle, I have yet 

 to experience it. 



We were astir at the first streak of dawn, you 

 may be sure, and within two hundred yards of our 

 camp a herd had practically surrounded us. There 

 was evidence in plenty of their visitation, in fact 

 the jungle in their wake looked as if a Kansas hur- 

 ricane had passed that way; canes were torn up, 

 rattan torn down, clumps of bamboo broken and 

 scattered. 



Whether the elephants had got our wind in the 

 still jungle where no moving air was perceptible 

 to me, or whether it was habit, a great broad path 

 led through the jungle, making straight away from 

 where they had been feeding. 



On these broad fresh tracks— which marked an 

 easy road, to the hunter's delight, for no under- 

 growth stays the elephant's huge bulk, and where 

 they go no jungle knife need follow after— we fol- 

 lowed for five hours before coming to any sign of 

 cessation in the elephants' travel. Then it seemed 

 that they had stopped for a while and scattered, 



